The A Team
by Elena Fisher
Summary: A songfic, based on the song 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran. Follows Percy as he tries to help Annabeth re-build her life. WARNING: Dark themes, self-harm, drug use, sexual references and suicide.


**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or the song 'The A Team', even if I desperately wish I did…**

**Warning: This story is fairly dark, and contains Character Death, Drug use, self-harm, suicide, and strong sexual references, so please do not read if you think any of this may cause you to relapse or cause damage to yourself.  
>AN: Listen to the song 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran as you read this, it's a beautiful song, and will give you the full effect of the story. The lyrics are in italics, and the story (my part) is normal. If you're confused, there's a really simple version at the end, but please read the whole story first!**

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><p><em>White lips, Pale face<br>Breathing in snowflakes_

_Burnt lungs, sour taste  
><em>As I left the station I caught my reflection in the mirror. For Zeus's sake, how could there even be fire in this weather? Since I'd left camp 2 years earlier, I'd joined ranks with the fire fighters. It was a good job, and let me work around water. But today, we'd been choking on snowflakes all day, and my face was nearly as white as the snow. I headed towards the park, choosing instead to take a different route back to my apartment. I grabbed an apple out of my locker. I'd gotten maybe 2 bites in before I gave up; it was too sour.

_Lights gone, days end,  
>struggling to pay rent<br>Long nights, strange men._  
>The lights of the day disappeared behind the tall office buildings, and the homeless hugged their blankets that much closer. One of the homeless caught my eye. A girl, barely out of her teens, curled up on a park bench. Her hair was cut to her shoulders, by what looked like a pair of safety scissors. The colour of her was what caught my eye. Behind the dirt and grime that was crying out to be washed, there was that glimmer of blonde. The same blonde that was common to the Athena Cabin. I dropped some money to her, and a croaky voice thanked me, looking up quickly, before her eyes shot down once more.<br>"Take your money back, I don't want your pity." Her attitude had changed completely, and she held the money back out to me.  
>"Keep it, buy yourself a nice meal, or some clothing. You need it more than me."<br>"No, I don't want your money, Percy." She said, shocking me.  
>"How do you know my name?" I asked.<br>"Just take it and go." She looked up, green eyes meeting grey.  
>"Annabeth?" I choked out.<br>"Take it and go."

_They say, she's in the Class A team  
>Stuck in her daydream,<br>Been this way since 18, but lately  
>Her face seems, slowly sinking wasting<br>Crumbling like pastries, They scream,  
>The worst things in life come free to us.<em>  
>After a verbal battle with the shell that had previously been my Annabeth, I left with my money, but returned several minutes later with a container of steaming Butter Chicken, her favourite meal and left before she could throw it at me. As soon as I got back to the apartment, I called her brother Justin.<br>"What happened to her?" I asked. "She used to be the best of us, the most likely to make it to 25 with a good job. Now she's barely twenty and living on a park bench."  
>"She's been like this since a couple months after you broke up."<br>"But that was just under two years ago! I walk through that park a couple times a week, I haven't noticed her until now."  
>"Yeah, a couple weeks ago she got kicked out of her apartment, and she didn't have enough money to get another place, and Chiron wouldn't take her back. She's falling apart, man…"<p>

_Cause we're just under the upper hand  
>I'll go mad for a couple grams<br>She don't wanna go outside tonight,  
>And in a pipe she flies to the motherland<br>Or sells love to another man  
>It's too cold outside, for angels to fly<em>  
>"Annabeth, why won't you let me help you?" I asked once again as I stared at her on the park bench she called home.<br>"If you really want to help me, get me some crack." She said, wrapped her Swiss cheese-like blanket tighter around her.  
>"I'm not gonna get you your fix. Stay with me, I've got a spare bedroom. Get cleaned up, get a job, and buy it yourself. I don't want you getting high every other minute, but if you have to, I just want somewhere for you to be safe when you're off on your own cloud." I took a seat next to Annabeth, lowering my voice.<br>She turned to my arm and started crying. In all the time that I had known her, I hardly ever saw her crying. "Come on." I whispered as I helped her gather her stuff and brought it back to me apartment.  
>I ducked into the store at the end of the block, and bought some stuff for Annabeth. I didn't think she'd appreciate the bathroom being full of male toiletries… When I arrived back, Annabeth was attempting to get the last drops out of a cup of coffee. "I don't think you're going to be able to get much more out of that… Here, I bought these for you." I said, handing her the grocery bag. "Go, have as long a shower as you want. I know you, you'll go for weeks without a shower if you've run away or on a quest, but as soon as you see one, you've got to be dragged out of there." I smiled at her, and she reached for the bag.<p>

_Angels to fly_  
>"I'll leave some clothes outside the door for you." I said as she walked to the bathroom.<br>She turned around, giving me a weak smile before closing the door.

_Ripped gloves, raincoat  
>Tried to swim and stay afloat<br>Dry house, wet clothes_  
>I called up the station the next day, and managed to talk my way out of working for the next 2 days.<br>"Annabeth?" I said as I poked my head in the door.  
>She was awake, but seemed to be reluctant of acknowledging that fact. "Go 'way."<br>I shook my head, smile on my face. "No chance. Come one, we're going to the beach. There's still a drawer of your old stuff in my room, I'll bring it in here for you.  
>There may be a swimsuit in there. If not, we'll buy one."<br>She sat up, hair like a lions mane. "You don't have to do all of this, you know? You can just send me back onto the street, I've been there for about a year and a half, I know how to handle myself."  
>"Nonsense. Biggest mistake of my life was breaking up with you. I came back to camp for you a month later, but Chiron said you left for the hunters. I did a lot of bad stuff after that, but Nico, being the son of Hades and all, helped me back onto my feet. I got a job, moved apartments, thinking that you were happy with the hunters. I had Nico, but he's off in Australia on some crazy recruitment mission, so you've got me. Now come on, we're going to the beach. And don't worry about breakfast, we'll pick some up on the way." I shut the door as Annabeth rolled out of bed, and headed to my room to bring her the drawer full of her clothes.<p>

"What are you wearing?" I exclaimed as Annabeth entered the garage of my apartment building.  
>"I don't know if you noticed, but it's raining."<br>"Did you find something to swim in?" I unlocked the car and held the door open for Annabeth.  
>She nodded. "Yeah, I found one of my old bikini's. It was big, but I made some adjustments, and now it just fits. And anyway, if it's raining, why are we going swimming?"<br>"It's water, you generally get wet when you swim. I thought you would have known that." I laughed when Annabeth hit my leg. "Nah, it's not raining at the beach. You'll see."  
>When we finally made it back to the apartment, it was quarter to five, and we left and half past nine. In the time we'd spent out at Montauk beach, Manhattan had been hit by a massive storm, and we collapsed onto the lounge, dripping wet and laughing. "I'm going to go take a shower." Annabeth said, peeling herself off the lounge.<p>

I sat with my hands behind my head, thinking the day over. We'd picked up some smoothies from a drive-through, and arrived at the beach at 11. I had been shocked when Annabeth revealed her bikini. Her previously healthy figure was now but a shell. Her ribs were poking out farther than thought possible, and she had bruises and cuts all over her. I managed to make her smile and laugh though, but it did leave me wondering how long this happiness would last. I ran my hand over the scars on my right arm, knowing all too well the feeling of brief happiness in the presence of others.

_Loose change, bank notes  
>Weary eyed dry throat<br>Call girl, no phone_  
>"It's two in the morning, Annabeth. What were you doing? You're never this late." It had been a week and a half that Annabeth had been living with me, and she seemed to be slowly gaining strength. She had come home high a few times, and I just left her to herself when that happened. One time she had come in to my room and tried to pull my pants off, and called me Otis, which I did not understand. I took her out to the lounge room, putting on the TV, and headed back to bed on my own.<br>I entered the kitchen to see Annabeth emptying a handbag filled with cash, and sorting it into piles. "What did you do? Rob a bank?" I joked, pouring us both a glass of water.  
>"Just working. Thanks." Annabeth took a sip of her water, and looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. "I'm not baked, it was just a long shift."<br>"How's the job at Wal-Mart treating you? I haven't heard much about it…" I bribed.  
>Annabeth looked away from me before answering. "Yeah, it's fine. Definitely not the job I expected myself to be doing a couple years ago, but it's money. I'm gonna take a shower, then it's bed time for me. Night, Percy."<br>"Night." I watched Annabeth walk towards the bathroom before I called out. "Hey, tomorrow, after my morning shift, I'll pick you up a phone. That way you can tell me if you've got a late shift, or vice versa."  
>"That sounds great, thank you." Annabeth said with a smile on her face as she closed the bathroom door.<br>"No problem."

_They say, she's in the Class A team  
>Stuck in her daydream<br>Been this way since 18, but lately  
>Her face seems, slowly sinking wasting<br>Crumbling like pastries, They scream,  
>The worst things in life come free to us<em>  
>The long summer nights turned white, and we kept on the same routine. Hardly seeing each other during the week, but always spending one day on the weekend together, doing something. We'd been out for lunch and bowling, caught up with Justin, and several other simple things. Annabeth had started putting more money towards the apartment and food, and less towards her drugs.<br>But despite our togetherness, we'd silently agreed not to attempt our relationship again. Not yet anyway. We'd been best friends before, so we could survive without tearing each other's clothes off. I'd spent a couple nights at Jessica's place, a daughter of Demeter who I slept with occasionally. We were both fine with the agreement of friends with benefits, and it suited us just fine. Although the next morning, I'd often arrive home to find an empty apartment, with not trace of Annabeth having slept there.

_Cause we're just under the upper hand  
>Go mad for a couple grams<br>She don't want go outside tonight,  
>And in a pipe she flies to the motherland<br>Or sells love to another man  
>It's too cold outside, for angels to fly<em>  
>I came home one night, a night that I had plans with Jessica that had fallen through, to find Annabeth on the phone to someone, setting up a date. I got a drink from the kitchen, not wanting to disturb her.<br>"It's 40 bucks for a blowie, and a hundred for the full package. But if you want any extra's the price will go up." The bottle of water I had grabbed out of the fridge dropped to the ground with a crash. "Hang on, I'll call you back." She hung up and rushed into the kitchen. "I swear I didn't mean for you to hear that." She said, biting her lip.  
>"You never had a job at Wal-Mart, did you?" My voice sounded flat, and full of venom, exactly how I felt. "I gave you a place to stay so you could get back on your feet, off the drugs, and make a life for yourself, Not so you could go and sell yourself to the first person you see on the street!"<br>"Hey! I'm not getting high as much anymore. I am getting back on my feet! But this business, you can't just _get _out of it."  
>"Yes, you can. You can stop anything. You just don't want to stop!"<br>"No! Percy!" Annabeth was almost yelling now, but I couldn't say the same for me.  
>"Shut up! You're just a stupid hooker! And you know what?" I looked her straight in the eyes, and lowered my voice back to normal. "You never will."<br>I saw a tear roll out of Annabeth's eye, before she turned and grabbed her bag, and ran out of the front door; out into the shitty world she belonged.

I couldn't sleep after that. I was too angry. Then at some point around 3:47, I realised that fight was excruciatingly similar to the one that had first broke us up. I walked into the bathroom, opened up my drawer, and scrambled for what I needed the most.  
>Finally my finger's wrapped around my lifeline. I lifted the blade up; resting it on my already scarred wrist.<br>For a second, my mind righted itself and realised; If I had been drawn back to this, what happened to Annabeth?  
>"No." The blade clattered to the floor as I shook my head. "No, no, no! Annabeth!" I yelled as I ran out and down onto the street. "Annabeth!"<p>

_An angel will die, covered in white  
>Closed eye, Hoping for a better life<em>  
>I found her eventually, as light began to streak through the skyscrapers bordering the horizon. She had been covered in a brief layer of snow, on the park bench where I first found her. "Annabeth!" I called out as I ran to her side. "Annabeth?" I gently shook her, but she didn't resist at all. "Annabeth? Annabeth?" I shook her again, with more force, and she flopped over onto her side, eyes closed.<br>"Annabeth?" I choked, before checking what had been engrained in me at the Fire Station. The pulse.

_This time, we'll fade out tonight  
>Straight down the line<em>  
>I stared up into the early morning sky, still dotted with stars. My eyes were full of soon-to-be-shed tears, as I held my Annabeth in my arms, rocking ever so lightly, sobbing away to the world.<p>

_They say, she's in the Class A team,  
>Stuck in her daydream<br>Been this way since 18, but lately  
>Her face seems slowly sinking wasting<br>Crumbling like pastries, They scream,  
>the worst things in life come free to us<em>  
>Several days had passed, and the world passed around me. At some point in time I called Nico, saying only two words over and over again. She's gone.<br>He brought me back to the apartment, and gave Annabeth a traditional sending-off, in the dead of night.  
>Thalia had been permitted time off from the hunters, and was staying with Nico, but was currently attempting to get me to eat something.<br>"Just tell me one thing. How did this all start? You had to know, you were like her sister." I said blankly.  
>Thalia sighed, before answering. "The hunters were at camp when Annabeth turned up, crying. Artemis allowed her to travel with us for a while, as a sort of test-run, and I suspect a show to her hunters of when the male species could do to you. But after about a month, she left for camp again. I was permitted time off after Rachel called me 3 months later, and we took her out to a party, than soon got out of hand. We got separated. I was dancing with a group of girls, Rachel was getting drunk in a corner, and we had seen Annabeth dancing with someone earlier; we figured they'd left for the night. You know. It turned out he brought her to another room, and got high with her. She forgot the pain, for a little while. She liked it, so she kept buying it. Spent all her money on it, and eventually Chiron kicked her out of camp."<br>"Last I heard was from Rachel, said she had a vision and saw Annabeth high, and getting picked up by a guy in a car. We thought it was the boy from the party. Apparently not."

_And we're all under the upper hand  
>Go mad for a couple grams<br>We don't wanna go outside tonight,  
>And in the pipe, we fly to the motherland<br>Or sell love to another man  
>It's too cold outside, for angels to fly<em>

_Angels to fly  
>To Fly, fly<em>  
>I was cleaning out her room one night, and I found little things that should have meant nothing. Instead they were proof that my Annabeth had been slowly returning. And for every small things, I added another slice to my arm. Soon there was blood dripping down onto the floor, and I had changed to my other arm. I needed to be closer to her, even for a minute.<p>

_For angels to fly  
>To fly to fly,<em>  
>I grabbed my hoodie, blade never leaving my side, and headed to that bench. I eventually reached it, and sat down, hearing Annabeth's voice almost instantly.<br>"Percy…" It was over as quickly as it had come.  
>"Not too long, my angel, my Annabeth. Soon we will be together." I said, placing the blade to my wrist once more, digging deeper than ever before, eyes fluttering shut.<p>

_For angels to die_

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><p><strong>AN:** So this story is a lot darker than the ones I usually write, but I fell in love with the song, and I do feel this is the best story I've written so far. I didn't exactly listen to the song and think Percabeth tragedy, but I woke up one morning with this playing, and generally right after I wake up or in the late hours of night as I'm falling asleep, is when I come up with ideas for stories. Every story written has been like that. I'm thinking of turning Ed Sheeran's album into a series of one-shots, all posted separately as they will be related to different things and have different characters, but all kind of like this, but not as dark. Tell me what you think! Opinions are quite amazing XD xxy Elena

**Cliff Notes Version:** If you're confused, Annabeth and Percy broke up after a massive fight, and Annabeth turned to drugs while Percy turned to cutting. Percy got (somewhat) back to what he used to be, but Annabeth just couldn't bear it. They somewhat got back to their old lives, but had another massive fight. Percy went to cut himself and realised he was right back where he came from, and Annabeth was probably the same. She overdosed several hours earlier, and Percy couldn't save her. A week after her death, Percy killed himself in the exact same place, all to be back with 'his Annabeth'.


End file.
